Folding bed



(No Moolel.)

O. M. MORRISON.

FOLDING BED.

Pate n ted Mar. 7,1882

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BY VUMM ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS, wmwmm n m. wnimn mn. u. c.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. MORRISON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND EBEN H.NORTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,678, dated March 7,1882.

Application filed December 15, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. MORRISON, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented a new and Improved Folding Bed, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to that class of folding beds which are hinged inthe middle, the parts folding toward each other and having theappearance of a desk or chifi'onnicr when folded.

The object of the invention is to balance the bedstead without the useof counter-weights and to permit making the legs of less height thanone-half of the length of the hinged sections forming the bedstead.

The invention consists in afolding bedstead formed of two sectionshinged to each other, and provided with legs pivoted to bars pivoted tothe inner surfaces of the side rails, which legs each are provided atthe upper end with a segmental rack engaging with a segmental rackattached to the inner surface of the corresponding side rail. The end ofone section is connected by a brace with the bottom of the legs of theopposite section, whereby when the bedstead is folded the legs will bemoved toward the middle of the bedstead and folded against the bottom orouter side of the same, and when the bedstead is erected the legs willbe moved toward the outer ends of the sections and erected.

Reference is to be hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of my improved foldingbedstead, showing it erected. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation of the same, showing it folded.

The bedstead is formed of two sections, A A hinged to each other at themiddle of the upper edges of the side rails, B, in the ordinary manner,and provided with side pieces, 0 0 ornamented to form the top of a desk,chiffonm'er, &c. The legs D, which are considerably shorter thanone-half the length of asection A or A are provided at their upper endswith rigidly-attached segmental racks E, resting against the innersurfaces of the side rails,

B, and engaging with segmental racks F, at-

tached to the inner surfaces of the side rails, and covered bysector-shaped plates Gr overlapping the teeth of therack, so that thebedclothing cannot be caught by the racks; and to prevent the racks fromslipping from each other sidewise a flat bar, H, is pivoted to the upperend of each leg at the center of the circle of the segmental rack E andto the correspondin g side rail, B, at the center of the correspondingrack, F, as shown. The legs are not pivoted to the rails B, but are onlyconneoted with these rails by the pivoted bars H.

Brace-rods J are pivoted to the inner ends of each section A A andto thebottoms of the leg or legs D of the opposite section, as shown inFig. 1. The bottom frame or plate, K K, of the bedstead must be providedwith recesses or slots L at the longitudinal edges to permit a movementof the bars H and racks E.

The operation is as follows: When erected the bedstead is in theposition shown in Fig. 1, the upper ends of the legs D being more thanhalf of the length of the sections A or A" from the inner ends of thesesections; but at the same time the length of these legs is not equal tohalf the length of the sections A A If the bedstead is to be folded, theouter ends of the sections A A are raised, whereby the inner ends arecaused to swing in the direction of the arrows a m The lower ends of thelegs D D swing in the direction of the arrows b 11 that is, in theinverse direction of their corresponding sections A or A, or, in otherwords, toward these sections; and when the bed stead is folded the legsrest against the under or outer sides of the bottoms of the sections A Athese bottoms forming respectively the rear and the front of theimitation desk or ch'ifibnm'er. When the bedstead is folded the braces JJ are folded and crossed at the bottom of the imitation desk, &c.

During the above-described movements of the parts the toothed edges ofthe segmental racks F pass over the toothed edges of the segmental racksE-that is, the points of contact of the racks move toward the center ofthe bedstead, or from the outer toward the inner endsof the racks. Thelegs turn on the lower parts of the bars H and the bars H turn on theirupper pivots. The upper ends of the legs move from the outer toward theinner ends of the sections A A Thus, although thelength of the legs D isnot equal to one-half the length of a section A or A and although theupper.

flush with the inner ends of the sections A or A when the bedstead isfolded, as the upper ends of the legs are moved nearer the inner ends ofthe sections A A while the bedstead is being folded, and move toward theouter ends of the sections A A while the bedstead is being erected. Thebedstead is thus supported nearer the ends, is balanced perfectlywithout the use ot'balancing-weigh ts, an (1 short legs can be used.

The length of the braces JJ must always be equal to double the height ofthe rails B, and this length cannot be varied. If the legs are pivoteddirectly to the rails B, their lengths must be about equal to half thelength of a section A or A and this makes the bedstead stand very high.If the legs are made shorter and the height of the rails B is decreased,the legs will be too near the center of the bedstead when the same iserected, and heavy weights will be required to balance the bedstead. Allthese defects are avoided by my improved construction.

The racks E and F might be replaced by segmental friction-plates; but Iprefer the racks, as they positively prevent slipping.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a foldingbedstead, the combination, with the hinged sections A A of the bars H,pivoted to the upper ends of the legs D and to the inner surfaces of therails B, the segmental racks E, attached to the upper ends of the legs Dandengaging with the racks F, attached to the inner sides of the rails13, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose setforth.

2. In a folding bedstead, the combination,

with the hinged sections A A of the legs D, the pivoted bars H, thesegmental racks E and F, and the covering-plates G, substantially asherein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

V 3. In a folding bedstead, the combination, with the hinged sections AA of the bottoms K K, provided with slots or recesses L, the pivotedbars H, the segmental racks E and F, and the legs D, substantially asherein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a folding bedstead, the combination, with the hinged sections A Aof the-legs D, the pivoted bars H, the segmental racks E and F, and thebraces J, attached to theinner ends of the sections A A and to the lowerends of the legs D, substantially as herein shown and described, and forthe purpose set forth.

CHARLES M. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

OSCAR F. GUNY', (J. SEDGWICK.

